Offenders warned

Demonstrating garment workers use an electric pole to blockade a street in Mirpur Section-14 in the capital yesterday demanding pay increase.Photo: STAR

The government will take punitive actions against those involved in the recent labour unrest in the garment factories in city's Mirpur area.
The decision was taken yesterday at an inter-ministerial meeting chaired by Labour and Employment Adviser Anwarul Iqbal at the conference room of the Local Government and Rural Development Ministry.
A committee led by Commerce Secretary Feroz Ahmed was formed at the meeting to investigate the cause for frequent labour unrest in the garment factories, Iqbal told a briefing after the meeting.
Iqbal also told reporters that government intelligence teams have already identified the persons involved in the latest incident at Mirpur.
“The law enforcers will round up the identified persons for the unrest they caused in the garment factories,” Iqbal said.
The meeting was attended by Commerce Adviser Hussain Zillur Rahman, Home Ministry Secretary Abdul Karim, President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Anwar-Ul-Alam Chowdhury (Parvez), President of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Fazlul Hoque, Director General of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) Shakil Ahmed, Director General of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) Hasan Mahmud Khandaker and Inspector General (IG) of police Noor Mohammad.
BKMEA president Fazlul Hoque said some vested quarters have been misleading the workers to try and destroy the RMG sector potentiality of the country.
“More than 90 per cent of the factories have been paying their workers according to the minimum wage recommendations. But, vested quarters are trying to make the sector volatile as local exporters work to recover the losses incurred last year,” Hoque said.